A Little Respect For The Splendid Splinter

TED WILLIAMS, 1918-2002

They named a candy bar for Babe Ruth and a disease for Lou Gehrig. Ted Williams they just called names. Officially he was the Kid, the Splendid Splinter, Thumper, but the best ballplayer to make Boston his home received less flattering sobriquets from Red Sox fans at Fenway Park. That's what you get for refusing to tip your hat after a home run.

Yet however indifferent he may have been to fans' adulation, Williams doggedly pursued their respect. As he often said, his goal was "to have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'" That's...